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On 17 October 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church of “Joy to All the Afflicted” Icon of the Mother of God on Bolshaya Ordynka street, Moscow. Archbishop Ionafan of Tulchin and Bratslav praying at the Liturgy. Concelebrating with Metropolitan Hilarion were deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) hegumen Philipp (Riabykh), DECR chairman’s assistants Rev. Dimitry Ageyev and hierodeacon Ioann (Kopeikin), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations Rev. Dimitry Sizonenko, ordained staff member of the DECR, and clerics of the church.

Attending the Liturgy were executive director of “Gruppa SINTEZ” company A. Korolev, executive secretary of the Russian-Chinese Business Council A. Kalashnik, financial manager of the “Print-Atelie” printing company I. Zhukov, and DECR staff member D. Petrovsky.

The Moscow Synodal Choir conducted by the Honoured Artist of Russia Alexei Puzakov sang at the service. Among other hymns, the choir sang “Bless the Lord, O my soul” and “Praise the Lord, O my soul” composed by Archbishop Ionafan of Bratslav and Tulchin.

After the service, Metropolitan Hilarion addressed the worshippers with his archpastoral world, saying:

“Dear brothers and sisters!

Today we head the words of our Lord Jesus Christ about our attitude to people. The Lord said: if you love only those who love you, what is the difference between you and common people, between you and the Gentiles? If you do good only to those who do good to you, what is the difference between you and those who do not profess Christ? “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:44). This is the difference between Christians and people living by the laws of this world.

It is quite natural to love those who love us. We respond with love to love, as this is inherent in our human nature. When people do good to us, we are thankful and try to return good for good. But how can we learn to love our enemies? How can we learn not to return evil for evil, but to return good for evil? How can we learn to do good without expecting any gratitude?

We can find the answer to these questions in the worlds of Sty. Paul, which we have heard today: ” It is no longer I who live, but it Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).  While a common man lives in us, we can observe only natural human law, return good for good, and evil for evil. But if Christ lives in us, the Lord Himself, abiding in us, who have opened hearts and souls to Him, will act through us, thus helping us to fulfill His divine commandments, as human strength is not enough.

People who we venerate as saints, could repeat after St. Paul: ” It is no longer I who live, but it Christ who lives in me.”  They opened their hearts, souls, and their inner nature to God so, that the Lord abides in them, and Divine strength has performed miracles through them. Why many saints could predict the future and see through people with all their sins and defects, virtues and merits? Why could they give people advice beyond human reason? It was because Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit lived in these saints, and God Himself revealed the destiny of people to them. People called this quality clarity of vision, a certain spiritual wisdom that has developed by human experience and with the help of God’s grace. Yet first and foremost, the grace of the Lord acted in the saints.

The Lord does not expect that we shall learn not to return evil for evil by our own, that we shall learn to love our enemies. He only expects that we shall open our hearts to Him, and He will do all the rest. Any time we come to attend the Divine Liturgy, we hear the Lord’s worlds: “Tale, eat, this is my body… this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mk 14:22-24).  The Lord invites all of us to be partakers of His repast so that He could abide in our souls, hearts, minds, and even bodies, so that He could act through us. This is a mystery of life in the church and the strength of Christ’s love. The Lord gives Himself to us, expecting that we shall give ourselves to Him. Then we shall have unity and harmony both in our relations with God and with people. Evil becomes strong there where God is belittled or disappears. All our human conflicts, malice, and imperfection are the results of our life without openness to God as we think of ourselves and our own interests. When we forget God, we do not leave a room for Him in our soul.

Let us beseech God to teach us, through the Holy Gospel, how to live and how to treat our neighbours. May God grant us to become disciples of Christ, learn to fulfill the commandments of God, be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, to do good to those who do evil to us, and to love those who hate us.”

A. Korolev presented DECR chairman with a unique book, “Orthodoxy in China,” compiled and published with the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion by staff members of the DEC, the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Foreign Ministry, other governmental and public structures, and the Russian-Chinese Business Council. Metropolitan Hilarion thanked A. Korolev and the “Gruppa-SINTEZ” company for their assistance in publishing “Orthodoxy in China” and said:

“During several centuries Russian missionaries have worked for establishing the Autonomous Orthodox Church of China. It founds itself in hard conditions today. May predecessor, now the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, exerted many efforts during many years to change the situation of the Orthodox Christians in China for the better, and I continue the work begun by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.”

Recently Metropolitan Hilarion has signed memorandums on cooperation between the Council for Cooperation with Religious Association under the President of the Russian Federation and the State Management for Religions of the People’s Republic of China concerning the development of Russo-Chinese contacts in religious sphere and the training of Chinese Orthodox students at the theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church. The agreement was reached to train Chinese students at the Russian theological seminaries and academies. The DECR chairman underscored the importance of this event for relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the People’s Republic of China. “We hope that the Orthodox Church of China will occupy its proper place again, that is will develop and prosper; and we shall do all we can for this,” Metropolitan Hilarion said.